Posted by
CowboyNeal
on from the jumping-the-gun dept.
giampy writes "New Scientist reports the creation of a 'smart bullet' that can be fired at a target and then transmit back informations via wireless connection. The range is 70m. The project is funded by Lockeed Martin and its official goal is the detection of hidden TNT."
Yes, this is a good idea
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 3, Funny
Because we can't tell if our bullets have hit TNT without some sort of tracking system.
The big explosion only tells us that there may have been TNT in the path of the bullet.
I gotta get that Lesko book and figure out how to get my fair share of government pork.
Smart Bullets, Tom Toles, and Spider-Man
by
The+I+Shing
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
The headline about "Smart Bullets" reminds me of a Tom Toles book entitled At least our bombs are getting smarter, a cartoon preview of the 1990s. The cover art is humorous... a daft (and probably tragically typical) American student can't figure out how to spell "budget," while the man-sized smart bomb sitting at the desk behind him is working out some kind of complex mathematical equation. In the corner of the cartoon, as in all Toles cartoons, there's a tiny punch-line. In this case, someone, probably the teacher, assures the smart bomb that "There'll always be a job for a chap like you." Dear God, it's more true today than it was fourteen years ago.
As far as smart bullets go, it sounds like the little spider transmitters Spider-Man uses to track the henchmen of his enemies, whom he inevitably follows right back to the bad guy's lair just in time to get clobbered by $villain. I wonder if there's an average number of years between the time a technology is introduced in comic books and the time it becomes a reality. Looks to me like it hovers around thirty.
-- You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
Re:Smart Bullets, Tom Toles, and Spider-Man
by
Saeger
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
the teacher, assures the smart bomb that "There'll always be a job for a chap like you." Dear God, it's more true today than it was fourteen years ago.
Dear Logic, why should that be so surprising? It should be expected that our technology will continue to get smarter, and faster, than your average "daft" person because of the differences in the rate of evolution.
Soon enough we won't even have to send any "daft" grunts with smart bullets onto the battlefield; we'll send bots who won't question orders instead.
As an ex-EOD tech, I can assure you that your impressions are quite incorrect.
All explosives are detonated by shock and/or heat. The amount of either depends on the formula used for the explosives. RDX, which is the active component of C-4, is quite sensitive on it's own. C-4 adds plasticizers to both reduce the sensitivity of RDX and to make it more plyable (hence, "plastic" explosives). Setting off explosives uses blasting caps (detonators) to provide the approriate shock to cause the explosive to detonate. This is accomplished by setting off a sensitive amount of explosive, which detonates a slightly more powerful explosive, on up until the last bit is powerful enough to set off the C-4.
The reason that you are required to turn off cell phones and other radio transmitters is because the blasting caps are usually electrically primed, and stray RF can set the caps off. Those long lead wires make very good antennae.
--
What good is a double standard if you can't enforce it?
What will we call this?
by
BabyDave
·
· Score: 5, Funny
We've got warchalking, wardriving, so this would be... er, warwar?
And then what?
by
divine_13
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
So, after the bullet hit a target, it transmits information back to tell for example where it hit, damage made etc. The fun part starts if the host could transmit data back to the bullet, telling it how to operate next. Who knows what it can do? Explode, burrow etc... O.O This will be the end of cool action shooting scenes in movies though.
"King also warns that firing a projectile at a potential explosive goes against bomb disposal guidelines."
Ya think? I know one way bomb squads dispose of potential bombs is to simply blow them up, but to fire a bullet (even if just at paintball speeds) at a potential explosive, just to try to find out if it's an explosive? Seems pretty silly.
OT: Why can't we moderate stories down?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Some of the stories posted to this site are pretty lame. Others are obviously flamebait or troll. Why can't we moderate the top level as well as the comments?
Don't know why nobody has noticed this yet, but we already covered this topic a couple days ago.
Because that's not how slashdot works.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
There ARE sites that allow you to moderate the top level stories. Kuro5hin comes to mind. I believe there's a public-voting version of Metafilter as well.
However those sites just somehow haven't wound up being as popular as Slashdot. Go figure. So did Slashdot just get lucky, or is Slashdot actually doing something right?
...can I shoot one at my boss so I'll always know where he is, or will it kill him?
Actually, never mind, it seems a win-win situation either way.
And what does a smart bullet say...
by
Vellmont
·
· Score: 3, Funny
After it hits someone? "He's dead, Jim" of course. Sorry, it had to be said.
-- AccountKiller
Receiving transmission...
by
Gilmoure
·
· Score: 4, Funny
Wind! Lots of wind!... Something's coming towards me. I wonder if it'll be my friend?... Ack! I've crashed into something! Oooooh! It's really icky in here. There's all sorts of red stuff going past me. I think I'm tumbling, too. Urp! I think I'm going to be sick.... Some kind of hard, white tree or something just shattered on my face.... Well, it looks like the ride has stopped.... Hello? Hello? Anyone out there?... Isn't anyone going to come and get me? It's really noisy here. Sounds like someone's screaming or something. And it really stinks here too. Looks like someone's mixed a septic tank and cow in a wood chipper. What a mess. Who the hell would do this? This sucks! Game over, man, game over!
-- I drank what? -- Socrates
Re:Thinking about defusing bombs...
by
mikael
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Sandbags seem to be the preferred option. They're cheap, and the contents can be easily found anywhere in the world. Other methods of containment include using a U shaped metal barrel pointing upwards towards the sky. Apparently when this was used once, it actually shot a hole through the clouds above. The closest anyone has come up with using a flexible but strong substance has probably been with airlines experimenting with kevlar straps tied around baggage containers. The straps were flexible enough to stretch with the blast, but strong enough to keep the container in shape.
Lets not make too many jokes about shooting bullets at explosives. This is only the official goal. I'm sure Ashcroft and his gang have prefectly good reasons for wanting to go around shooting bullets randomly, and hoping to hit TNT. Americans must learn to give up our rights and safety and sanity in the fight against terrorism.
-- I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Like any other technology, this could be abused
by
EchelonZero
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
This story reminded me of a recent art exhibit in NYC. Jakob Boeskov, an Danish artist, infiltrated an international weapons fair in China with a fake weapon, the "ID Sniper Rifle". While his story is interesting, his concept weapon was frightening; although even more frightening was the response it received from interested parties at the fair.
What is the ID Sniper Rifle?
To put it short, the idea is to implant a GPS microchip in the body of a human being, using a high-powered sniper rifle as the long distance injector. The microchip will enter the body and stay there, causing no internal damage, and only a very small amount of physical pain to the target. It will feel like a mosquito bite, lasting a fraction of a second.
At the same time, a digital camcorder with a zoom lens fitted within the scope will take a high-resolution picture of the target. This picture will be stored on a memory card for later image-analysis. GPS microchip technology is already being used for tracking millions of pets in various countries, and the logical solution is to use it on humans as well, when the situation demands it.
-------------
Projectiles witht the ability to "phone home" are in our near future. How long can we expect to wait until something like the ID Sniper Rifle really exists?
I don't know about all this TNT finding stuff, but I can see the major benefits for hunters using these. Deer hunters sometimes can't bring a deer down right away (think drunks, or someone shooting through brush, both of wich are bad shooting habits) and so they have to track it through the woods.
Now, assuming the bullet didnt go all the way through, instead of following drops of blood for miles we can follow the bullet. It says the range is only 70m, but maybe that'll get better by the time they (maybe) release it for the public.
B/c for reasons other than hunting, it sounds completely pointless.
--
I was thinking of converting to paganism, but where the hell can you find sacrificial virgins these days?
Clarification.
by
The+Tyro
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
not to question an ex-EOD tech (you guys are all a little nuts), but I was under the impression that only some explosives (rather than all) are sensitive to heat, and some to percussion... while some require both to initiate a high-order detonation. C-4, for instance, can be safely set on fire, and will not detonate. It can also be safely exposed to significant mechanical shock, and will not detonate (exposing it to both simultaneously isn't advisable). I've never seen pure cyclonite (RDX) used much... probably due to its sensitivity, as you mentioned.
Most military high-explosives I've been around don't require much chaining (setting off sequential explosives to detonate a less-sensitive material)... I can't remember the last time I saw anyone use more than a standard cap. (I'm not an bomb/EOD-guy... I've simply been around the stuff a bit).
The original poster's comment about shooting at TNT is funny... because that's exactly how a fair amount of ordinance gets detonated these days. The last time I was in theatre, the EOD guys were using Barrett light-50's (with a type of european incendiary ammo) to detonate mines and other ordinance... a whole lot easier and safer than walking up to it and setting up the shot by hand. My tactical gear was heavy and unwieldy enough... I don't know how you guys are able to do anything in those bomb suits...
-- Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
Re:Clarification.
by
BravoFourEcho
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
...I was under the impression that only some explosives (rather than all) are sensitive to heat, and some to percussion... while some require both to initiate a high-order detonation.
Well, the amount of heat or force required depends on the particular explosive. But if you have enough of either, you can generally set off whatever you want. Gunpowder takes very little heat, but C-4 requires quite a bit if no shock is involved. You can burn a lot of explosisves without them detonating. Shock is similar. The military grade stuff is desensitized enough that it can take a bullet strike, but civilian dynamite won't necessarily be desensitized.
In most cases, all the chaining required to set off explosives is done in the cap, so you wouldn't need to specifically set something up.
The Barret's are a nice setup, but I can't say much more about that than that we do use them. The bomb suits are pretty unwieldy. Most of the time you'll see the EOD guys with just flak vests.
As for EOD techs being crazy, well, not everyone is dumb enough to play with something that didn't blow up when it was supposed to.:)
--
What good is a double standard if you can't enforce it?
I'm sure it's been said.
by
mcrbids
·
· Score: 2, Funny
"Dammit, I'm too old for this shit", said the stern, muscular, middle-aged Marine commander, surveying with binoculars.
Dozens of miltary agents and officers stand in front of cars parked in the street. Lights are flashing, numerous troops stand around, guns drawn, facing a building.
Across the street, a badly shaven, greasy-looking middle-eastern (sterotype = terrorist, a la "True Lies") holding an automatic rifle in one hand, defenseless female in another screams threats from the large white house.
"Call in the sniper-detector" said the large, square-jawed Marine commander.
Up comes a small, wiry man in camoflauge, donning thick eye-distorting glasses. There's a weird electro-mechanical contraption vaguely resembling a satellite dish fixed to his military helmet.
"Sniper-detector Melvin reporting for duty, sir!" says the wiry gent.
"I need you to tell me if there are any explosives in that there building!" screams the military commander.
"Aye sir!" screams back the nerdly sniper-detector in a fearful tone.
Melvin promptly enters and briefly emerges from an unmarked, large, black moving truck parked nearby, holding a long, powerful-looking sniper rifle, on which is an enormous-looking scope.
"Here, I need you to shoot this into the building when I tell you to!", says Melvin to a nearby, muscular ground trooper. "Make sure not to hit anybody!" he adds with intent and feeling.
Melvin then disappears into the back of the large, black truck.
"OK!" comes the muffled scream from Melvin in the back of the truck.
With a barely perceptible nod, the trooper takes the gun, and with careful, confident smoothness, the trooper points the rifle at the building, and carefully takes aim at the building and carefully fires a single shot.
KABOOM!
Boards and shrapnel fly in all directions, the blast blowing back everybody standing against the ground. Windshields and car windows are shattered, a hubcap noisily rolls by, eventually coming to rest against a heavily damaged 2x4.
Officers and agents get up, dusting themselves off, one officer screaming in pain off in the distance. As officers and infantryman check each other to assess the damage, the back door of the truck flies open.
"Good news, sir!" says Melvin, suddenly pausing as he surveys the damage all around.
"What's that, dammit!" screams the commander.
"Well, sir, I was going to say that there was no sign of nuclear weapons, just some plastic explosives..."
-- I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
Slashdot Mirror
Because we can't tell if our bullets have hit TNT without some sort of tracking system.
The big explosion only tells us that there may have been TNT in the path of the bullet.
I gotta get that Lesko book and figure out how to get my fair share of government pork.
The headline about "Smart Bullets" reminds me of a Tom Toles book entitled At least our bombs are getting smarter, a cartoon preview of the 1990s. The cover art is humorous... a daft (and probably tragically typical) American student can't figure out how to spell "budget," while the man-sized smart bomb sitting at the desk behind him is working out some kind of complex mathematical equation. In the corner of the cartoon, as in all Toles cartoons, there's a tiny punch-line. In this case, someone, probably the teacher, assures the smart bomb that "There'll always be a job for a chap like you." Dear God, it's more true today than it was fourteen years ago.
As far as smart bullets go, it sounds like the little spider transmitters Spider-Man uses to track the henchmen of his enemies, whom he inevitably follows right back to the bad guy's lair just in time to get clobbered by $villain. I wonder if there's an average number of years between the time a technology is introduced in comic books and the time it becomes a reality. Looks to me like it hovers around thirty.
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
I'm glad I don't have the job of testing that...
shooting at TNT seems a little risky.
Be you Admins? nay, we are but lusers!
Oooh. I think therefore I am... *CRUNCH*!
Deleted
Shoot first, get answers later.
Won't somebody please think of the Karma!
We've got warchalking, wardriving, so this would be ... er, warwar?
So, after the bullet hit a target, it transmits information back to tell for example where it hit, damage made etc.
The fun part starts if the host could transmit data back to the bullet, telling it how to operate next. Who knows what it can do? Explode, burrow etc...
O.O
This will be the end of cool action shooting scenes in movies though.
"King also warns that firing a projectile at a potential explosive goes against bomb disposal guidelines."
Ya think? I know one way bomb squads dispose of potential bombs is to simply blow them up, but to fire a bullet (even if just at paintball speeds) at a potential explosive, just to try to find out if it's an explosive? Seems pretty silly.
Bullet: "Splat!"
That's going to be a lot of bullets to track.
I wasn't shooting at the bank teller, the bullet was trying to find TNT
If result of Step 1 is: No detonation then most likely, there's no TNT.
Of little on topic relavence: Have you seen what a blended metal bullet does to a potroast?
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
... all our missiles are guaranteed to hit the ground if they fail to reach the target...
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
Some of the stories posted to this site are pretty lame. Others are obviously flamebait or troll. Why can't we moderate the top level as well as the comments?
Don't know why nobody has noticed this yet, but we already covered this topic a couple days ago.
There ARE sites that allow you to moderate the top level stories. Kuro5hin comes to mind. I believe there's a public-voting version of Metafilter as well.
However those sites just somehow haven't wound up being as popular as Slashdot. Go figure. So did Slashdot just get lucky, or is Slashdot actually doing something right?
...can I shoot one at my boss so I'll always know where he is, or will it kill him?
Actually, never mind, it seems a win-win situation either way.
After it hits someone? "He's dead, Jim" of course.
Sorry, it had to be said.
AccountKiller
Wind! Lots of wind! ... ... ... ... ... ...
Something's coming towards me. I wonder if it'll be my friend?
Ack! I've crashed into something! Oooooh! It's really icky in here. There's all sorts of red stuff going past me. I think I'm tumbling, too. Urp! I think I'm going to be sick.
Some kind of hard, white tree or something just shattered on my face.
Well, it looks like the ride has stopped.
Hello? Hello? Anyone out there?
Isn't anyone going to come and get me? It's really noisy here. Sounds like someone's screaming or something. And it really stinks here too. Looks like someone's mixed a septic tank and cow in a wood chipper. What a mess. Who the hell would do this? This sucks! Game over, man, game over!
I drank what? -- Socrates
Sandbags seem to be the preferred option. They're cheap, and the contents can be easily found anywhere in the world. Other methods of containment include using a U shaped metal barrel pointing upwards towards the sky. Apparently when this was used once, it actually shot a hole through the clouds above. The closest anyone has come up with using a flexible but strong substance has probably been with airlines experimenting with kevlar straps tied around baggage containers. The straps were flexible enough to stretch with the blast, but strong enough to keep the container in shape.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
Lets not make too many jokes about shooting bullets at explosives. This is only the official goal . I'm sure Ashcroft and his gang have prefectly good reasons for wanting to go around shooting bullets randomly, and hoping to hit TNT. Americans must learn to give up our rights and safety and sanity in the fight against terrorism.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
What is the ID Sniper Rifle?
To put it short, the idea is to implant a GPS microchip in the body of a human being, using a high-powered sniper rifle as the long distance injector. The microchip will enter the body and stay there, causing no internal damage, and only a very small amount of physical pain to the target. It will feel like a mosquito bite, lasting a fraction of a second.
At the same time, a digital camcorder with a zoom lens fitted within the scope will take a high-resolution picture of the target. This picture will be stored on a memory card for later image-analysis. GPS microchip technology is already being used for tracking millions of pets in various countries, and the logical solution is to use it on humans as well, when the situation demands it.
-------------
Projectiles witht the ability to "phone home" are in our near future. How long can we expect to wait until something like the ID Sniper Rifle really exists?
Check out Boeskov's account of the weapons fair- crazy! http://events.thing.net/Boeskov_text.html
I don't know about all this TNT finding stuff, but I can see the major benefits for hunters using these. Deer hunters sometimes can't bring a deer down right away (think drunks, or someone shooting through brush, both of wich are bad shooting habits) and so they have to track it through the woods.
Now, assuming the bullet didnt go all the way through, instead of following drops of blood for miles we can follow the bullet. It says the range is only 70m, but maybe that'll get better by the time they (maybe) release it for the public.
B/c for reasons other than hunting, it sounds completely pointless.
I was thinking of converting to paganism, but where the hell can you find sacrificial virgins these days?
not to question an ex-EOD tech (you guys are all a little nuts), but I was under the impression that only some explosives (rather than all) are sensitive to heat, and some to percussion... while some require both to initiate a high-order detonation. C-4, for instance, can be safely set on fire, and will not detonate. It can also be safely exposed to significant mechanical shock, and will not detonate (exposing it to both simultaneously isn't advisable). I've never seen pure cyclonite (RDX) used much... probably due to its sensitivity, as you mentioned.
Most military high-explosives I've been around don't require much chaining (setting off sequential explosives to detonate a less-sensitive material)... I can't remember the last time I saw anyone use more than a standard cap. (I'm not an bomb/EOD-guy... I've simply been around the stuff a bit).
The original poster's comment about shooting at TNT is funny... because that's exactly how a fair amount of ordinance gets detonated these days. The last time I was in theatre, the EOD guys were using Barrett light-50's (with a type of european incendiary ammo) to detonate mines and other ordinance... a whole lot easier and safer than walking up to it and setting up the shot by hand. My tactical gear was heavy and unwieldy enough... I don't know how you guys are able to do anything in those bomb suits...
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
"Dammit, I'm too old for this shit", said the stern, muscular, middle-aged Marine commander, surveying with binoculars.
Dozens of miltary agents and officers stand in front of cars parked in the street. Lights are flashing, numerous troops stand around, guns drawn, facing a building.
Across the street, a badly shaven, greasy-looking middle-eastern (sterotype = terrorist, a la "True Lies") holding an automatic rifle in one hand, defenseless female in another screams threats from the large white house.
"Call in the sniper-detector" said the large, square-jawed Marine commander.
Up comes a small, wiry man in camoflauge, donning thick eye-distorting glasses. There's a weird electro-mechanical contraption vaguely resembling a satellite dish fixed to his military helmet.
"Sniper-detector Melvin reporting for duty, sir!" says the wiry gent.
"I need you to tell me if there are any explosives in that there building!" screams the military commander.
"Aye sir!" screams back the nerdly sniper-detector in a fearful tone.
Melvin promptly enters and briefly emerges from an unmarked, large, black moving truck parked nearby, holding a long, powerful-looking sniper rifle, on which is an enormous-looking scope.
"Here, I need you to shoot this into the building when I tell you to!", says Melvin to a nearby, muscular ground trooper. "Make sure not to hit anybody!" he adds with intent and feeling.
Melvin then disappears into the back of the large, black truck.
"OK!" comes the muffled scream from Melvin in the back of the truck.
With a barely perceptible nod, the trooper takes the gun, and with careful, confident smoothness, the trooper points the rifle at the building, and carefully takes aim at the building and carefully fires a single shot.
KABOOM!
Boards and shrapnel fly in all directions, the blast blowing back everybody standing against the ground. Windshields and car windows are shattered, a hubcap noisily rolls by, eventually coming to rest against a heavily damaged 2x4.
Officers and agents get up, dusting themselves off, one officer screaming in pain off in the distance. As officers and infantryman check each other to assess the damage, the back door of the truck flies open.
"Good news, sir!" says Melvin, suddenly pausing as he surveys the damage all around.
"What's that, dammit!" screams the commander.
"Well, sir, I was going to say that there was no sign of nuclear weapons, just some plastic explosives..."
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.